Abandoned Woman Busy Farming

Chapter 2574: Chapter 2575: Done With All Benevolence and Duty

How could Lord Da Gu handle eight ninjas alone? Just as he narrowly avoided a wave of shuriken, someone from behind stabbed him in the shoulder.

It’s over!

Lord Da Gu thought to himself, he feared there was no escape!

The sound of arrows whistling through the air followed, distinct from the shuriken used by the ninjas—it was the arrows favored by people from Zhongyuan.

Lord Da Gu quickly looked up to see several guards charging in, breaking into the encirclement to protect him.

”Lord Da Gu, are you alright?” the leading guard asked.

For a moment, Lord Da Gu’s eyes felt a little wet. Was he hallucinating? Was he still alive? Was he saved?

”I’m fine, I can hold on,” he replied.

The guard stopped talking to him and focused on dealing with the enemy.

The ninjas, suited for assassinations, were now exposed; they had little chance to kill Lord Da Gu. After a few more rounds of fighting, the ninjas quickly fled, and the guards did not pursue but instead escorted Lord Da Gu back to the palace.

When the Emperor saw the injured Lord Da Gu, he asked in surprise, ”What happened?”

Lord Da Gu quickly saluted, but the Emperor held him back, ”Don’t move, I’ll call the Imperial Doctor to check on you.”

”Your Majesty, it’s okay, just a flesh wound. On my way back, I was ambushed by a group of ninjas, Fusang’s ninjas,” Lord Da Gu said with certainty, noting that no matter how well someone from Zhongyuan disguised themselves, it would be hard to mimic the style of Fusang’s ninjas or fool the eyes of an experienced warrior like him.

”How could this be? Who are they?” The Emperor angrily inquired.

”I don’t know yet. I went to the posthouse alone and almost...” Lord Da Gu still felt a lingering fear, ”Luckily, people from Zhongyuan sent guards to protect me, otherwise, I wouldn’t have seen Your Majesty.”

The Emperor, surprised, said, ”Did Bai Ruozhu’s people save you?”

”Yes, they escorted me back to the palace before leaving. I asked them on the way, and they said that Lord Jiang had foresighted the other side’s treachery and thus stationed guards outside the posthouse to protect me,” Lord Da Gu sighed as he spoke, then relayed Bai Ruozhu’s words to the Emperor.

”Alright, do as they said,” the Emperor reaffirmed, growing more resolute. These people dared to attempt an assassination against his right-hand man; their arrogance was beyond tolerance.

”Yes, I’ll arrange it right away,” Lord Da Gu replied.

”First, get your wound dressed, there’s no rush,” the Emperor said, glancing at Lord Da Gu’s bloody shoulder.

Lord Da Gu’s eyes turned slightly red, ”Yes, Your Majesty.”

The Emperor, accompanied by loyal guards, left the palace directly for Zhaoti Temple to meet Master Puru.

”Master, Bai Ruozhu mentioned that there are matters I could ask you about. What else do you know?” the Emperor asked.

Master Puru sighed, ”Things are much as Lord Bai had previously speculated, yet I never imagined Anben was the mastermind behind it all.”

He had already heard the news; Sa Tian couldn’t enter the posthouse either, and upon coming, found the news equally astonishing.

Then Master Puru continued, ”Zhaoti Temple harbors a secret, of which I was unaware until my master passed away, leaving a last will instructing me to find something in the Scripture Pavilion before the next emperor ascends. There was also a cryptic message, which I initially didn’t ponder deeply. Later, when the Scripture Pavilion caught fire, fortunately, the item remained intact, and only then did I understand the reason.”

The Emperor listened, becoming more shocked, ”Was the Scripture Pavilion fire caused by the Second Prince?”

”Not so,” Puru solemnly replied, continuing, ”The last will mandated me to use the Heart Method to test the next emperor, and should they fail, their ascension must be stopped. Initially, I also suspected the Second Prince, but he passed the test, although that’s when the poison manifested within him, causing a feigned death.”

”This, this in the end...” The Emperor felt even more perplexed.

”Your Majesty did not foresee this: the Fusang Royal Family possesses the Merfolk Bloodline,” Puru explained further, describing how its awakening creates special abilities but doesn’t allow living past thirty.

These were observations Bai Ruozhu had shared with him, but Bai Ruozhu hadn’t mentioned Jiang Yichun was in the same situation.

He then explained about the previous tests on the Crown Prince and other royal members, where the Crown Prince’s concealment of fate with the Demon Method initially thwarted detection.

The Emperor grew increasingly disappointed, ”The Crown Prince committed such vile acts. Regardless of being my own flesh and blood, I watched him grow up; how did he become like this?”

”Your Majesty manages vast affairs, there are inevitably unseen areas,” Puru sighed.

”So, the Crown Prince won’t live past thirty? And doing all this to become an emperor gains him what?” the Emperor asked.

”The Vein Curse isn’t necessarily known to him and Anben. Even if it was, the Zhaoti Temple’s tradition only involves testing without explaining the reason for an unfit result barring ascension. Perhaps the Crown Prince and Anben only learned the temple’s secret partially, and having acquired abilities surpassing ordinary people, they prepared ahead,” Puru added.

”Whether Anben knows or not is uncertain; even if the Crown Prince perishes post-thirty, isn’t Anben still there?”

For a long while, the Emperor remained silent before finally standing up, saying, ”Alright, I understand. Master, I’ll take my leave now.”

Puru rose, ”Your Majesty has countless tasks; managing them doesn’t necessarily require temple retreat—having Buddha in heart suffices.”

”Indeed, I understand.”

...

At Anzhen Residence, Anben finally regained consciousness, though much of his poisoning was incurable without an antidote, and Lingzi found no solutions, leaving Anben looking in poor condition.

”Where’s the Crown Prince? Did he visit?” Anben asked immediately after waking.

His trusted aide had dressed his wounds, leaving his face uncovered to show it swollen like a boar’s.

He lowered his head, ”Rumors abound outside, it’s likely inconvenient for the Crown Prince to leave the palace.”

He hadn’t come then.

Disappointment flickered in Anben’s eyes, which Lingzi perceived beside him, feeling delightedly satisfied inside.

Suddenly noticing Lingzi, Anben shouted, ”How dare you return? Beat this jinx, this ingrate, to death!”

The trusted aide hurriedly pleaded, ”My Lord, it was Miss Lingzi who saved you from the posthouse.”

”Fools, don’t you understand me?” Anben bellowed.

Initially worried for his health, Lingzi, seeing his shouting, sneered, ”Even if they catch me, I won’t come here again.”

She threw out two smoke bombs laced with Bewildering Fragrance, vanishing in a flash.

While unable to outdo Bai Ruozhu in poison, couldn’t she at least thwart these guards?

Lingzi soon fled, with guards unable to stop her, and some unwilling to risk their lives doing so, for many had come to know the truth and felt sympathy for her.

She had done her utmost for Anben.

Yet, Anben furiously yelled, abruptly coughing up blood; pressing vital points on his chest he demanded, ”Call a doctor!”